Gettin to know Joe

Q. “What type of Leader are you?”

A. I am a Servant Leader. It is important that I make sure that all those working in my organization are free to be as productive and have everything they need to be successful. Everyone must understand the “Mission” and their role in achieving that mission.

Q. “How do you encourage your team to solve big problems?”

A. I believe in collaboration. More importantly, I feel like it should be done organically. Collaboration should be part of a regular cadence where teams with direct or overlapping interests should block out time to focus on a new innovation or way to do something. It is essential to build the foundational elements of a high-functioning team.

A Software Engineer At Heart

I taught myself how to write Basic when I noticed the prompt on my Atari 2600. This came in handy once I went full-time in the Marines and had access to “How to” books collecting dust on the office shelves. I will admit that I had plenty of motivation because the job I took over was previously done by three other people manually. No matter how efficient I made the process to keep up, it would not be possible.

First, I taught myself “Supercal 5” a spread-sheet program that was very powerful at the time and I used it to replace my gigantic paper ledger. I was the Accounting clerk at the local Reserve I&I station in Atlanta, GA. After that, DBase III, ObjectPal, VB, ADABAS, Lotus Notes, and Oracle RDBMS.

All of the technologies I learned were used to automate the repetitive tasks of my jobs, and it became clear that I had a talent for software development.

I AM AN ARTIST.

Yes. I Paint, Draw, and do Photo Art and have done so my entire life. I have been commissioned to do many paintings for private citizens and asked to join an Art Gallery in St. Pete Florida. One of my more notable and public events was when I was 1 of 20 other artists selected to do “Art in the Park” in downtown St. Pete, FL. We were asked to paint live on a large 4-foot by 8-foot canvas during a fashion show. This is where I was asked to join a local gallery, which I refused (I didn’t have the time to produce gallery-worthy art).